Carter, Moss: The Play's The Thing

Ex-minnesota Teammates Deny Feud Talk

DAVIE, FLA. — If, as Cris Carter believes, this is a horse that has been beaten to death, it's partly because he and Vikings receiver Randy Moss kept giving it legs during the past few months.

When Carter left the Vikings in the spring after 12 seasons with the team, he and Moss traded verbal jabs through the press. Following a Vikings season marred by sideline sniping between the two receivers and quarterback Daunte Culpepper, the image of Moss and Carter as pleasant partners vanished.

Now Carter will return to Minneapolis today with the Dolphins, and he and Moss are doing what they can to kill the talk for good. Moss is staying quiet, and Carter is playing down the significance of this teacher-pupil relationship gone sour.

"I don't think it is a big deal," Carter said Tuesday. "I don't think it is that important that I talk to one individual. It is not as if I am upset at him or he is upset at me. We are just at different stages of life."

It hasn't turned out as many expected for either player.

Once it became clear that Carter wasn't going to re-sign with the Vikings, it was assumed that another team would quickly sign him. Instead, Carter turned off teams with his contract demands and eventually took a job in television before signing with the Dolphins in October.

Vikings coach Mike Tice, who considers Carter a close friend, said Carter could have returned to the Vikings.

"Cris made that decision," Tice said. "If he had decided to come back, he would be back. He decided he wanted the one thing that was missing in his career, and that is a Super Bowl ring."

Moss, meanwhile, remains among the most productive receivers in the NFC but hasn't had the same impact as in his first four seasons. He also continues to be dogged by criticism that he doesn't always play hard and for his role in off-the-field incidents.

It was Moss' public reaction to those episodes that first caused Carter to take him to task. He said Moss was a uniquely talented player but that he had no respect for authority figures or the game. Later Moss, and some anonymous Vikings, were quoted as suggesting that Carter was selfish during his final season with the team.

Moss said that Carter took too much credit for his development. Carter countered that it was Moss and the Vikings who came to him seeking help with the talented but perplexing Moss.

Back and forth it went, with Moss taking a final derisive dig when Carter signed with Miami. Now the two don't speak.

Eventually they might, but Carter doesn't think it matters much if they don't.

"I think sometimes people make more of it than it is," Carter said. "I am not there (in Minnesota) every day. If I was, Randy and I would probably have a relationship.

"But it is not that important for either one of us. You just go through phases in your life, and people go in and out of your life, and it is not a big deal"

More important, Carter said, is Miami's push for a playoff spot and his role in it. He caught his first touchdown pass for the Dolphins in their 23-17 victory against Oakland on Sunday and said he is "still working my way in" to Miami's offense.

It was different for Carter in Minnesota, where he holds franchise records for receptions (1,004), receiving yards (12,383) and touchdowns (110). In Minneapolis, Carter was "a football icon," said Dolphins quarterback Jay Fiedler, who played for the Vikings in 1998.

With the Dolphins, Carter says he simply is trying to contribute to what he hopes is a championship team. He chuckled when someone asked him if he would lobby for more passes in his return to Minnesota.

"I don't make the game plans," Carter said.

Last time Carter faced a former team, he had a big day. The Eagles waived him on Sept. 4, 1990, and the next month he went back to Philadelphia and caught six passes for 151 yards, including a 78-yard touchdown.

It's unlikely he will get the chance to do the same today.

"He is probably going to lobby for the ball a little more this week, being up in Minnesota," Fiedler said. "(But) I have to do my job as well. When I do my job well, it is reading things out and getting the ball across the field to everyone."

Not enough passes from Culpepper was reportedly what started Carter's rift with Moss and the Vikings. Later, Carter reportedly took issue with former coach Dennis Green's handling of Moss, and thus began the deterioration of what had seemed like a natural relationship between Moss and Carter.

Besides his success as an NFL receiver, Carter also had overcome drug and alcohol abuse during his early days in the league with the Eagles. Moss' checkered past caused several teams to pass on him in the draft, and Carter seemed suited to guide him.

It started off with Moss as the eager, young talent seeking out Carter, Carter said. Somewhere along the way, Moss apparently began to feel Carter was hurting more than helping.

"I never took any credit for developing Randy," Carter said. "Randy wanted to do what he wanted to do; he wanted to be the best receiver in the NFL, and I was there. So I poured into him everything that I knew.

"The thing that was unique about Randy is that I could tell him to do things that I couldn't do physically. That is what made it nice. He could take my creativity, but when it was all said and done, he had to do it."

Michael Cunningham writes for the South Florida Sun- Sentinel, a Tribune Publishing newspaper.